Hey, Blue Eyes
by that-sexy-genius
Summary: Stay on your guard, stay aware, and stay alone. It's these three rules that have kept Rin Matsuoka alive after the outbreak that caused humanity to crumble. It's these three rules that'll keep him that way. After a stupid mistake, Rin counts himself lucky to still be alive- and it's all thanks to a boy with blue eyes.


Written for RinHaru Week 2014

Prompt: AU - Dystopia (With Zombies?)

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><p>The first time Rin caught sight of blue eyes, he was busy fighting for his life.<p>

He had gone further into town to pick up supplies, but by late afternoon, he'd found nothing. The sun had already started to set as he realised he'd need to find somewhere to shelter for the night. Rin decided to hole himself in a nearby house and wait 'til daybreak- at least that had been the plan.

It seemed safe enough, at least, he thought, jimmying the lock until it gave open. Hoisting the metal baseball bat onto his shoulder, he cast a quick look back at the street; empty, for now. It wouldn't take long for the undead to arrive. Rin ducked inside, eyes scanning the room as he closed the door behind him. Wincing at the bloody handprints on the wall, the redhead slowly edged forwards, attempting to avoid stepping on anything on the cluttered floor with one hand gripping the strap of his backpack in reassurance. A loud _crack_ made the boy jump, and Rin glanced down, lips curving to a frown as he saw the photo frame beneath his feet. Cautiously, Rin picked it up, glass clinking as he brushed it away.

The sight of the little girl, her gap-toothed smile and bright eyes, reminded Rin of his own sister, sending pain spasming through Rin's chest. She knelt clutching a dog, in front of a man and a woman, her parents, who were smiling into the camera fondly. For the millionth time, Rin found himself cursing the outbreak of the disease, for separating families like this and countless more.

A strange gurgling noise jolted Rin out of his thoughts and instinctively, he crouched down, shoulders set with his fingers curled around the poised baseball bat. He froze, not daring to move a muscle as he waited for something to jump out at him, focusing less on what he could see and more on what could be heard. Forcing himself to take slow, steady breaths, Rin prowled forwards, shifting his weight as he moved to stifle the sound of his footsteps. The damn zombies used sound and smell to find the nearest source of fresh meat, which was why Rin hadn't bothered to wash of the small of the undead that lingered on his clothes.

Warily, the boy made his way into the kitchen, following the gurgling sound to its source. He blanched at the stench, the smell of blood and rotting flesh forcing him to fight the urge to throw up. A small figure was hunched over another, its fingers tearing into the flesh, scooping the contents into its mouth. Rin tried not to make a sound, hoping the scent of the body in front of the zombie would overpower his own, at least long enough for him to bash in the head of the bloody thing. It wouldn't take to many hits; it was small enough that Rin suspected a well-aimed blow would cave its head in.

The zombie froze, the gurgling sound coming from its throat as it turned and Rin had to stop himself from crying out in recognition. It was the same girl from the picture, half her mouth torn off and he hair matted with blood. Rin's eyes widened as he realised the victim with its stomach ripped open was the man from the picture, most likely her own father.

The girl made a screeching sound, trying to grab at Rin as she lunged towards him. Contrary to the thousands of zombie movies he had watched as a kid, zombies were not slow, ambling, easily taken down creatures- well, they could be, depending on their stage of decomposition, but this girl looked newly turned, which wasn't great for Rin. She grabbed onto his foot and he stepped back, shaking her off as he swung his bat. He clipped her on the shoulder hard enough that if forced her to let go, and he readied the bat as she stared at him, growling.

_Hit her, Rin, _The voice in his mind urged him, _Get it done and over with._

For some odd reason, she wasn't moving and was just watching him with a feral glint in her eyes. A quick swing and she'd be dead. A quick swing and Rin would be safe. He steadied his grip on his bat, palms sweaty.

_Swing, Rin! Come on, hurry up! _The voice sounded frantic and listening to it would probably be the smartest thing to do.

The girl couldn't have been any old than 10. She was just a kid, and Rin swallowed loudly, grip tightening on his bat. She was just a kid, like his sister had been, when she died, swarmed by zombies as she screamed. She was just a kid.

The girl sprung at him, taking advantage of his carelessness and Rin moved on instinct, the bat coming down with as much force as he could muster. He heard a sickening crunch and the girl was flung back, her gurgling cut short. Rin huffed, eyes stinging as he raised his bat, waiting to see anymore movement from the zombie. Several minutes passed, Rin's nerves set on edge until he finally calmed down, tense muscles relaxing.

He turned away from the girl, unable to look at the corpse as he walked away from it, hoisting the bag more firmly onto his shoulders. His shoulders hunched, the redhead looked around, eyes landing on a staircase. Rin staggered up, finding a hallway which he followed to a set of rooms. He spotted a door with a name written in curly writing, heart stickers stuck around it, open enough for him to see the fallen soft toys and dresses strewn on the floor.

He clenched his teeth and look straight ahead, entering a more nondescript room with bland wallpaper, most likely a guest room of some sort. After a quick check of the other rooms to make sure there were no more nasty surprises, Rin wandered back into the guest room, using the set of drawers to barricade the door.

Satisfied that no zombies would be able to open it, Rin settled into the bed, keeping both his bag and bat within arm's reach. The house had been ransacked of course including this room, so Rin would be hardpressed to find pillows or blankets. It'd had been a while since the boy had last lain in a bed, and he found it a weird feeling, not used to the soft mattress. Still uneasy, Rin yawned, finding himself oddly exhausted as he struggled to keep his eyes open. He gave up trying to stop it, falling asleep with his bat close- no damn zombie was going to get him when he was sleeping.

Rin jolted awake to the sound of thumping against the door. Disorientated, the tell-tale sounds of groans alerted him to the horde outside. From what he could hear, there had to at least 3 or 4 zombies outside his door.

_You're so stupid, Matsuoka!_ He cursed himself, realising that the smell of the human corpse below would have brought the zombies right to his doorstep.

Casting a wild glance at the window, he could see the sun, only a tiny sliver of orange on the edge of the horizon. Going outside now would be suicide, after all, towns usually had the biggest population of the undead, but Rin doubted he'd be able to hold off a horde of zombies with only his baseball bat. Sounds of the drawers being pushed forwards, scraping against the floor made him whip his head back, watching in horror as slowly, ever so slowly, the door was being pushed open.

Leaping forwards, he grabbed the bat, stuffing it into his bag as best as he could and slung his bag around his shoulder, stumbling towards the window. He gauged the distance, trying to figure out if he'd break his legs if he jumped down. The tree outside the window seemed like a safer option, even if it looked a little far. He hesitated, listening to the scratching at the door, gritting his teeth as he made his decision.

Lucky for Rin, the window was big enough for him to fit through and he held onto to its frame as he stretched out an arm, trying to reach the nearest branch of the tree. Stretching his fingers, he could brush the bark of the wood, arm span not wide enough for the boy to wrap his hand around the branch. The drawers holding the zombies back gave way, sliding forwards on the wooden floor with a _screech_ and Rin lunged, scraping his arms as he grabbed a hold. Arms stinging, he kept his eyes on the guestroom, climbing down from the tree as fast as he could. The street seemed clear for now, and Rin had to decide which way to go, going with his gut as he ran left.

The sky was fully dark, and Rin didn't recognise where he was going. His mind kept screaming at him to get off the streets; night was a very vulnerable time that made him feel far too exposed. It was hard to see anything coming at you, meanwhile zombies, who relied mostly on sound and smell weren't affected. Fishing his bat out of his bag as he ran, Rin caught sight of a group of zombies up ahead- just after they heard him running their way.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!" He let a string of expletives loose, turning around and running as fast as his legs would take him.

Speeding away, Rin could see out of the corner of his eyes, a few of the zombies giving up on the chase, falling away. The only ones left were the newly turned, who were fast enough to keep up with the redhead. He felt a hand latch onto his backpack and he used his momentum to swing around, hitting solidly onto a zombie's face. The hold on his bag weakened and Rin tore himself away, running in no particular direction, just _away_.

It took him by surprise when a hand hutted out in front of him, grabbing onto his collar and pulling him into an alley he was just about to pass. Rin panicked, raising his bat to attack when he caught sight of blue eyes and he froze. It was a boy, who looked around his age with dark hair and clothes grungy like his. The boy raised a finger to his lips, miming a shushing motion, turning away from him to peer out onto the street.

Rin blinked, trying to recover from the shock; it had been ages since he'd seen another human- well, one that was busy being zombie food. The boy looked back at him, blue eyes calm and Rin's face split into a grin, proof that he wasn't the last human alive right before him.

Rin wasn't all alone.


End file.
